Chapter 17
"So, you were fired?"
Gao Ran came out of the kitchen carrying the pot of freshly cooked instant noodles. In order to save himself from washing things later, he even used the small pot as a bowl.
"Otherwise," Zhou Yiheng lazily sprawled on the sofa, one leg draped over the other's knee. He leaned back slightly, a half-finished can of Snow Beer clutched in his hand. His chin was unshaven, and he wore a vintage vest he'd bought since his freshman year, a piece he'd kept until now. The collar was baggy, and there was a long-standing, indelible, yellowish-brown stain on the front.
The old man's shorts, the edges of which were loose, swayed slightly as he shook his legs. He pulled out the pillow under his buttocks and threw it on the edge of the sofa. He moved his body to lean against the corner of the sofa and yawned. "She told me to get out. If this is not expulsion, what is it?"
Feeling the discomfort of his shoulders from the uneven position, he sat up again, lowered his legs, and propped his knees up with his elbows. He saw Gao Ran eating instant noodles, with a few meatballs and sausage floating on the noodle pot. Zhou Yiheng's brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself, "It's my fault that the thing fell, but I was also careless. The porcelain was already broken, and a piece just fell off that covered my thumb nail. Did she have to be so angry?"
"That's not the case." Gao Ran slurped the noodles. The tempting aroma of braised beef made Zhou Yiheng swallow his saliva. He licked his dry lips and took two gulps of beer.
After swallowing the noodles in his mouth, Gao Ran said, "That's an antique."
"Antique bullshit!" Zhou Yiheng angrily said, "Even if it is an antique, it is rotten and no one would want it if it was thrown on the ground."
"Where did you throw it? I'll pick it up," Gao Ran teased with a smile.
Zhou Yi kicked him and said, "Get out of here!"
After finishing his last few sips, he crushed the beer can in his hand and threw it into the trash bag beside him. Zhou Yiheng stood up. The aroma of the cooked instant noodles was so tempting that his stomach, which wasn't hungry to begin with, began to growl. He walked to the kitchen and opened the drawer under the gas stove.
"Don't look for it anymore." Gao Ran sat on the ground. He finished the few remaining noodles in the pot in a few bites, picked it up, and drank the soup. He wiped the remaining residue from his mouth, and the steaming instant noodle soup went down his stomach, warming it. Gao Ran felt satisfied and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"I just finished the last packet." Gao Ran stood up, holding the empty pot and took it from Zhou Yiheng, looking at the noodle pot with nothing in it, not even a drop of soup left.
Zhou Yiheng's mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes at him, "You didn't even give me a bite?"
Gao Ran patted his shoulder and told him kindly, "Order takeout."
He placed the noodle pot and chopsticks in the sink, turned on the faucet, and let cold water flow down. Having eaten and drunk his fill, Gao Ran didn't have the energy to clean up anymore. He decided to go back to his room and lie down for a while, until he was comfortable and rested.
"Shit!" Zhou Yi cursed, falling back onto the sofa. He felt the data cable under his thigh, picked up his phone, which he had thrown somewhere to charge, and opened the food delivery app, switching back and forth between the restaurants he frequently ordered from.
Gao Ran took out a pack of cigarettes from his trouser pocket with wet hands and threw it to Zhou Yiheng who was lying on the sofa, "Don't say that brother doesn't think about you."
Holding it in his mouth, he skillfully picked up the lighter on the table, blocked the fan wind with one hand, and lit the cigarette with the other hand. His movements were skillful, and his face, which was facing sideways and in the backlight, had a bit of ruffian air.
Gao Ran sat on the sofa next to him, crossed his legs, and asked, "Why are you looking for that job?"
Exhaling the cigarette in his mouth, Zhou Yi looked at his phone horizontally and said, "Assistant"
"What do you mainly do?"
Grocery store
Gao Ran was puzzled. "A grocery store owner needs to go to an archaeological site, so why can't they just buy the goods directly if they like them?"
"Who knows, it's so mysterious." He really didn't find anything he wanted to eat, so he threw his phone aside and continued to lie in the same position as before.
Gao Ran twisted his neck and saw that he was in a state that was almost no different from a salted fish. He raised his foot and kicked his legs that were resting on the edge of the sofa. "Why don't you go and beg for mercy? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."
Zhou Yi tilted his head and said stubbornly: "No."
"Have you thought about it? It's not easy to find a job with such a high salary."
He pondered it in his head for a while, then asked Gao Ran, "How do I ask?"
"Just like you begged your boss for help during your final exam, you should beg him now," Gao Ran said. "By the way, how old is your boss? Is he easy to talk to? Is he a man or a woman?"
"She's a woman, about 27 or 28 years old, and looks quite young," Zhou Yiheng said.
When Zhou Yiheng mentioned Yang Ye, he couldn't help but recall the day she leaned against the second-floor railing, gazing down at him from above. Even in the simplest of clothes, she couldn't conceal her inherent beauty, a bold, undeniable quality that stood up to scrutiny. If Zhou Yiheng were to describe her with his limited vocabulary, she'd be like a rose blossoming on a cliff, blooming in the wind, its dazzling crimson color drawing many near, yet many remaining hesitant.
My already restless heart seemed to be filled with a new kind of emotion. My heartbeat was pounding, as if something was about to jump out of my chest. My face was burning, a blush slowly creeping up my cheeks, and my breaths were stuttering from the momentary tension.
Seeing his dazed state, Gao Ran reached out and glanced in front of his eyes, curiously asking, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing." His wandering thoughts were brought back to him. Zhou Yiheng felt a little uncomfortable. He sat up and moved to the other side of the sofa.
He was completely overwhelmed with shyness, and Gao Ran exclaimed, "Oh my god, what did you do?!"
"What are you doing?" Zhou Yiheng stuttered, his face flushing red as his eyes wandered everywhere, unable to find a single, definite destination to stay in. His voice laced with evasion and a palpable, undeniable nervousness.
Gao Ran was curious and stood in front of him. "Tell me the truth, do you have any improper thoughts about her? That's why she wants to fire you."
"How is that possible?" Zhou Yiheng avoided his gaze and explained, "During the five or six days I was away, I didn't speak more than ten sentences to her alone."
He's always been heartless, but now he's acting so coy. Gao Ran teased, walking over and holding Zhou Yiheng's shoulders, "Is your boss very beautiful?"
"It's okay," he said guiltily.
"You're still trying to make that up," Gao Ran pointed out. "The last time you acted like this was when you saw Su Qingqing from the next class. Damn, even when Su Qingqing was standing in front of you, you didn't get this shy."
“No,” he stuttered again.
"You're done." Gao Ran pointed at him and stepped on the sofa with one leg. "You haven't even seen the face, and you're already stuttering just talking about it."
Zhou Yiheng's gaze evaded, his entire body stiffening. His embarrassed look of wanting to escape only piqued Gao Ran's curiosity, and he sat down beside Zhou Yiheng, "Do you have any photos? Let me see."
"No" Zhou Yiheng was a little annoyed.
Gao Ran didn't believe it. "Why wouldn't someone who's pretty post on their Moments? Don't hide it to yourself. Show it to your friends. I won't steal it from you. Maybe I can even give you some advice."
"I didn't even add her as a friend." Zhou Yiheng shook off the hand that was pressing on his shoulder. Afraid that Gao Ran wouldn't believe him, he unlocked his phone and scrolled down to the WeChat friends interface.
The latest chat only contained the location that Xiao Xiao sent him three days ago.
"Then how do you usually contact each other?"
"Hey," Zhou Yi pointed at Xiao Xiao's portrait, "She also has an assistant."
"Opening a grocery store requires two assistants?" Gao Ran really didn't understand.
"Who knows?" Zhou Yiheng turned off his phone and saw the black screen. On the screen panel stained with fingerprints was a faint shadow of his own. She sighed and became depressed again. Gao Ran stood up and patted Zhou Yiheng's shoulder regretfully. Suddenly, he remembered something and pressed Zhou Yiheng's shoulder hard, saying to him seriously, "You have to go back."
"Why should I go back?" Zhou Yiheng was about to get up, but was pushed down again by him.
He looked so stupid and unwilling to show off. Gao Ran leaned over and whispered in Zhou Yiheng's ear.
His eyes changed from suspicion to shock. Zhou Yi glared at her, pushed her away, and raised his voice several degrees, "Are you crazy? Let me chase her?"
"You're crazy," Gao Ran said. "Think about it, you even dare to pursue your boss, a beautiful woman. Won't you be so stuttering when you find a partner in the future?"
"You also said that he was the boss, what if..."
Gao Ran said directly, "What if? He is so rich, how could he be interested in you?"
Zhou Yiheng still couldn't believe it, "Why do you look down on me?"
Gao Ran crossed his arms and looked at Zhou Yiheng calmly, "A grocery store owner is hiring two assistants and offering you 10,000 yuan a month. Look around, you won't find jobs that pay that much these days. I know you can't catch up to her, but at least give it a try."
“I tried but it didn’t work.”
"No, no," Gao Ran had already thought of the outcome. "Your stuttering problem can't be solved by starting in the Novice Village. You have to use drastic measures right away. Even if you get fired, at least you'll get a month's or half a month's salary, and you'll also gain experience in pursuing people. It's a win-win situation, what are you afraid of?"
Zhou Yiheng is upright and says, "No, I have a bottom line."
"What bottom line do you have? If you keep going on like this, you'll lose your underwear. What's the point of caring about the bottom line?" Gao Ran said. A message came in on his phone. He took it out of his pocket and saw the word "landlord" on the message.
"Hey, the landlord's asking for rent again. Think about it," Gao Ran reminded him. Seeing Zhou Yiheng sitting silently on the sofa, his expression slightly solemn, as if he was pondering something, but not really pondering, just with a stern face, as if angry. Perhaps feeling that what he had just said was a bit too harsh, Gao Ran added, "If you don't have enough money, I still have some. I can lend you next month's rent."
"No need," Zhou Yi stood up, "I still have some left."
After finding his wallet in the room, Zhou Yiheng's eyes froze when he saw the pitifully few five or six red Mao Zedong notes in it. He opened his mobile banking app again and found that there were only more than two thousand yuan left on the card. He was shocked. When he checked it two days ago, there were clearly five or six thousand yuan left. What had he used recently? Zhou Yiheng pondered over it, but when he clicked on the details, he saw many small expenses. Although they were only a dozen or twenty yuan, the amount seemed small, but the total amount could not be underestimated.
Once you say independence, there will be no reason to regret it.
Find Gao Ran’s account and transfer the rent to him.
After graduation, he chose to stay here, drawn in part to the opportunities in the big city and also to the salary. The two to three thousand yuan salary in his hometown was barely enough to meet the standard here. He figured, after all, he'd studied for so many years and had a bachelor's degree, he'd definitely find opportunities for advancement. His parents wanted him to return home, secure a job, and settle down. But after comparing the two options, Zhou Yiheng decided to stay.
In winter, my hometown's streets are deserted after six o'clock. The dim orange light shines down, and the distance between the two streetlights is about half a meter. Even with this half-meter stacked, the light only reaches the entrance of my hometown alley. But in City Z, the white streetlights stay on until dawn, and the bright neon lights on the overpass, with their colorful lights blazing along the elevated railings, are blindingly bright.
City Z is vast and bustling, its skyscrapers towering into the sky. Huge glass curtain walls cast a midnight glow across every corner of the city. Standing beneath the office buildings, looking up, the sky is fragmented into countless tiny pieces, with sunlight only a few stingily leaking through at certain times.
This city lacks everything: clean and fresh air, nods and greetings when meeting people, communication, and genuine familiarity. But the only thing it lacks is undergraduate graduates who have dreams and are willing to fight and strive for them.
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